Teaching the millennium generation can be a very challenging job for today’s educators. The students of the 21st century have technology at their fingertips. They live on their cell phones, play video games with constant stimulation and instant results, and are exposed to a social network meeting people all over the world. It’s a whole new way of life compared to even 10 years ago with the rapid ever-changing technology.
As a CST instructor, the biggest challenge for educators is keeping abreast all the new technology. When I adopted my daughters, I took a year off from teaching. I returned to a classroom filled with new technological advances – one of them was the little portable medium called a USB device. In the 11 years as a college instructor, I have lived through at least 6 different versions of the Windows Operating System. What a whirlwind!
From a student's perspective, Joe’s non-netbook video offered some very interesting points on student learning today. Technology has broadened the views of our students. They are not afraid to explore a subject more in-depth because they have the ability via a computer to “click” on an item for more information. This video made a textbook seem very boring and disinteresting to students. If teachers are going to continue to use a textbook, they will need to find ways to enhance the learning to motivate students in other areas. Using an online textbook may be the wave of the future. Not only will students be engaged, but teachers can customize their own book by choosing what they want in an online textbook. In another YouTube video, it was humorous to see a book being depicted as obsolete where the person didn’t even know how to use it.
After studying the 2009 Michigan Educational Technology Standards, I have mixed opinions as to their main objective. Students will benefit from learning the moral and ethical objectives relating to pirating, hacking, cyber bullying, plagiarism, and sexting and the ramifications it can have on their future. However, I feel that the standards are vague and somewhat inconsistent. Some of the very basic principle functions of computers are missing; functions on what an operating system is and how to utilize an operating system by organizing your media. Many students who enter our college classes have a very poor understanding of how to create folders and find files stored on various media. Another issue I find is that many high school students enroll in my software program courses with the belief that they know the program; only to find that they had a very insignificant understanding. Questions that also come to my mind in my own school district are: How does the Bay City School District intend to teach their students these technology standards after they laid off their technology instructors due to budget cuts? Can a general education teacher prepare students for technology in today’s society?
I am glad Michigan has a set of technology standards; however, they need some reconsideration. I didn’t see anywhere in these standards how Michigan is assessing whether school districts are adhering to these standards and are gauging what their students are actually learning when it comes to technology. Let’s face it, budgets are tight; technology is expensive. Government needs to allocate more money to our schools to properly implement these technology standards.
Bibliography
“Delta College Acceptable Use Guidelines.” Web. 04 Feb 2011. <http://www3.delta.edu/AUG.asp>.
“Introducing the Book.” YouTube. Web. 04 Feb 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFAWR6hzZek&feature=related>.
“Michigan Educational Technology Standards for Students 2009.” Web. 04 Feb 2011. <http://techplan.edzone.net/METS/METS2009.pdf>.
“Poll Finds Sexting Common Among Youth.” eSchool News. Web. 04 Feb 2011. <http://www.eschoolnews.com/2009/12/03/poll-finds-sexting-common-among-youth/?>.
Once again Connie, I am impressed with what you have to say on the topic of technology in our classrooms. It is amazing how much technology advances in such a short amount of time. Taking a year off and coming back to all of those changes must have been very difficult for you. I also agree with you that there needs to be a system implemented to assess how technology is being used in our school systems. Our district has also cut technology teaching positions hoping that the classroom teachers will utilize enough of it themselves to suffice. But what if they aren't training our students well enough? What a great topic of conversation you have brought to the table here. Great job!
ReplyDeleteConnie, I could relate to much of what you said in your post, especially how rapidly the technology is changing! Sometimes it's difficult just knowing what new technology is out there, not to mention knowing how to implement it! For example, before this class, I knew that blogs existed and what they were. But I hadn't taken the time to actually create one myself.
ReplyDeleteAnother point in your blog that resonated with me is how students' views have broadened. They certainly do have the ability to explore more in less time!
You also touch on customized textbooks. I believe they are the future. CMU's MSA program just switched to customized textbooks this year. So it's conceivable that more and more programs, universities, high schools, and grade schools will follow suit.
Finally, you also acknowledged that some older students have a lack of technical know-how which I agree is true. I've helped more than one adult student who didn't know what I meant when I told them to "cut and paste". Which illustrates that technology standards should take these levels of understanding into account.
Nice job! Jennifer
Educators everywhere will see illiteracy related to educational technology. Just because it is there doesn't mean everyone will learn how to use it...like in reading. Just because it is taught does not mean everyone learns. Also many students will fall behind if parents do not support technology or can afford technology.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what schools the students you are seeing who lack in technical skills are coming from? What kind of technology departments do they have and equipment and how many hours a week do they get to perfect their skills? Technology audits will come in handy. I enjoyed your blog and the futuristic video about how to open the book. I guess that is the first step to reading.
I learned a lot reading your blog and it stimulated me to want to learn more, like when schools are evaluated are they doing technology evaluations? Thanks Connie. Linda